Bookwarm
by Audrey T
Summary: Castiel and Dean meet on a train. They share an apparent love of books. It takes months but, eventually, they get there.
1. Chapter 1

A lot of New Yorkers dread the morning commute. It's crowded, it's timely, and often it's filled with people who mean you nothing but ill will or, at the least, harbor an almost psychotic level of indifference. But to Castiel, his daily train ride was a godsend.

Every morning, he'd enter the train at _116th Street_, shortly after the train arrives in Manhattan. It's early in the day and just the third stop into the city so, lucky for him, the train is still fairly empty; he always gets a seat. Usually, it's the seat right near the last door and he's lucky enough to wedge himself against the metal handrail.

Although many complain about the horrors of the subway, Castiel finds in it a lot of positive qualities. In the summer, where even in the early hours of the morning the heat looms threateningly, the train provides sweet relief from the hellish and sometimes stifling weather. The cool weather that rushes out when the train doors open are a welcome reprieve. In the winter, when the snow and consequent icy sludge that follows consumes the city, the flood of warmth that blows as the door welcomes him in, heats up Castiel's cheeks and leave them tingly and rosy.

Castiel has ridden this train, mostly in silence, every morning countless times. He notices some people; it's hard to ignore familiar faces when you're faced with them five times a week. There's an old man, about seventy, who wears a corduroy jacket when it starts to get cold and huddles behind a fresh newspaper every morning. There's a child who sit at the end of the train, opposite the conductor's door, with her mom or nanny. Most days she sports a red rash under her eye and an oversized polka-dotted raincoat. Even when it's too cold or too warm. When the chill of fall gets to be too much, her mom (or nanny) bundles her up in layers underneath that coat, leaving her stuffed and puffy, but probably comfortably warm.

Next to Castiel, joining the train somewhere around _Penn Station_, sits a young woman, maybe in her late teens or early twenties, who spends her ride scribbling in a run-down notebook. She's often wearing soft knits; a thick warm scarf, slouchy beret, and fingerless gloves with pull-down mittens. Sometimes Castiel can see her watching him out the corner of her eyes.

It's a while before a new addition is made to this train car's usually crew. It's a young man, Castiel guesses around his age. Over the top of his book, he sees him enter at _14th Street_. He stands against the door opposite Castiel's seat, backpack straps tight across his shoulders, a book resting between the fingers of his big hands, and his eyebrows knitted. A few stops later, when CorduroyJacket gets off at_Houston Street_, Eyebrows takes his seat. When he catches him staring, Castiel quickly refocuses his attention on his own novel.


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next two weeks, Castiel watches as Eyebrows silently fits himself into their train car's new routine. He gets on at _14th Street_, stands against the door until _Houston_ and then takes CorduroyJacket's place. Castiel tries not to watch him too much, just glimpses between page turning, and over time, he even gets used to his presence. He's just another guy on the train, he tells himself. Another familiar face that makes his commute a little less colder.

About a month in, Castiel notices a strange thing. On a Friday he finishes his current novel. Over the weekend, he visits his local bookmart and picks up a new one. On Monday morning, on the train ride in, he starts reading. And on Tuesday, he notices that Eyebrows is reading the same exact thing. He doesn't acknowledge him, aside from the sneaking glances he allows himself, but still, there's no way that could be a coincidence.

Two weeks later, Castiel finishes this new novel. It's in the middle of the week (bad planning on his part) so he grabs an old favorite on his way out the door and smirks a little smugly to himself when he sees that Eyebrows is still a few train-rides away from completing that last novel.


	3. Chapter 3

If Castiel had any thoughts about it being a coincidence, he knows he's wrong two days later. It's a Friday, and Eyebrows saunters onto the train with his nose buried in a new copy of Castiel's current novel.

The next week goes by pretty uneventful. On Tuesday, RaincoatGiirl and Mom/Nanny don't show up. Castiel remembers it's a minor holiday and from the lack of a crowd on the train, guesses that public schools are closed. On Thursday, the train comes in late and there's a weird lingering smell in the car that leaves everyone burying their noses in their scarfs. On Friday, Castiel's a little shocked to see that Eyebrows has moved on to another novel. When he takes Corduroy's seat across from Castiel, he notices the slight smile that lifts at the corner of his mouth. Eyebrow turns to the first page, burrowing a little deeper into his seat. Castiel swears he catches as his eyes flits up to meet his.

Even though Castiel was only halfway through his novel, he spends Friday night finishing it up and he spends Sunday brunch at the bookstore, sipping hot chocolate, browsing through the science fiction aisle before he stops all his pretending and asks the worker if he can help him find a copy of the new novel Eyebrows flashed two days before.

It's worth it, on Monday, when Eyebrows enters the train car and his cheeks fill with color upon noticing the book Castiel holds in his hands.


	4. Chapter 4

Fall turns into winter. Halloween and Thanksgiving pass. They go through nine novels throughout the time. Castiel prefers fantasies and complicated romances, and Eyebrows usually picks science fiction and almost-horror stories and modern fiction that often leaves Castiel in mourning or bursting with joy.

One week before Christmas, he's only halfway through their current novel, when Eyebrows enters the train. Instead of walking directly to the other side of the car, he drops a little package in Castiel's lap. From the girl who sits next to him, Castiel hears a small surprised gasp. He feels twice as surprised as she is. For the rest of the ride, Eyebrows pointedly _does not_ look up at Castiel.

He's not sure what the gift is, though he has a guess. It's book sized and book shaped and wrapped in kraft paper with a peppermint patterned string crisscrossing around it. There's no tag attached to the front, no note on the outside. He's anxious to see what it is, but he wants that feeling to last, so he waits until the end the week, for after work, once he's cleaned up his house and washed his hair and eaten dinner. He waits until he's brewed his hot chocolate (sweet like he likes and with a candy cane added because the gift's wrapper reminded him) and is tucked neatly in his bed, before he carefully unwraps his present.

As expected, but still it delights him, a hardcover book is revealed. It's called _The Wild Things_ and along the front cover, written in neat handwriting, is a small note from Eyebrows, whose name, Castiel finds out, is actually Dean.


	5. Chapter 5

It's not until after the new year begins that Castiel sees Dean again. With the holidays out of the way, the world restarts and, once again, the train and its passengers are back to the daily grind.

That first day -a Monday, Castiel notes- Dean steps into the train in a new pair of boots, a much heavier coat, and is almost pointedly making an effort not to look over at Castiel. As he lounges against the train car's door, he makes steadfast eye contact with his shoes and, Castiel notices, his novel (the one that perfectly matches the book Castiel holds in his hands) it closed and clutched tightly in his hand.

When they hit _Houston Street_, Dean hesitantly goes for the now empty seat. He sits stiff, nothing like his usually lax demeanor, and shakily grasps his novel between his fingers; opening it to the very first page. When Dean finally looks up, Castiel tries not to make a show of pulling out his copy and turning to his first page as well.


	6. Chapter 6

Things continue to move smoothly as the weeks past. Sometimes they share humor novels (some Christopher Moore joint about luck-monsters) and in the middle of the month, Castiel opens up a novel about 9/11 and death that leaves him guarding back tears in the middle of his commute. The second to last week of January, Dean introduces him to _the_anti-hero James Stark. But then, at the start of the month's last week, Castiel notices Dean beginning to look a little green around the edges.

On Wednesday, he stumbles onto the train, nose comically (and, dare he say, adorably) red and cheeks ruddy. He has a pocketful of tissues he tries not to blow into and the commotion he's causing when he sneezes, well...he's getting a lot of dirty looks. He's obviously miserable, Cas can see that, and the unfriendly looks he's getting isn't making it any better. As he sits down in his usual seat, Cas can do nothing but give him a sympathetic smile.

After work, Cas takes a detour. He stops at the closest Whole Foods and buys some teas and honey, some vitamin D and other 'get-well' ingredients. He also (guiltily) pilfers a large food container from the hot food section of the market and purchases some ribbon from the general store at the corner of his street.

After he's settled in for the night, he carefully assembles his flu-time care-package. Quickly jotting down some recipes for the perfect tea on index cards and assembling the ingredients in neat order. When he's done, he slips the ribbon neatly around the top and ties it off.

He falls asleep content and warm, snuggling deep under his fleece blankets, but around midnight, the idea comes to him. He quickly slips out of bed and patters his bare-feet across the cool wood floor. It doesn't take him long to find it - a run down copy of one of his favorite books - and he gingerly adds it to his bundle.

The next morning, as he leaves the train, he drops it purposely into Dean's lap.


	7. Chapter 7

Valentine's day is quickly approaching and just thinking about it sets Castiel's stomach aflutter...or maybe, just thinking about Valentine's day and _Dean_ is what really gets those butterflies going. Either way, once February blows in, there's not much else he can think about.

He finds himself falling more and more enamored with this _Dean_ and more and more disillusioned at the fact that (a) aside from book selection, he doesn't know much about this boy at all, and (b) this train just isn't moving fast enough.

It seems, he's not the only one who feels that way.

On the eve of Valentine's day, (Friday the thirteenth, of all days), Castiel finds himself on the end of a strange surprise. The young girl who sits next to him each day, hands him a manila envelope, thick with pages.

Castiel eyes her quizzically, eyebrows raised, "_Um_..." poised on his lips.

She quickly shakes her head, cheeks flushed. "Not now," she whispers, eyes wide and panicked, as his fingers fiddle with the envelops clasp. "Oh my god, please no," she continues, frantically shaking her head.

Castiel regards her with suspicion, and she returns his squinted look with a shy, embarrassed smile. "Just wait 'till later, okay?" she asks. "At least until I get off the train, okay?"

Slowly, Castiel agrees. Before he can say anything, she pulls her hood over her head to cover her reddening face and looks fervently at her fingers until she exits.

Castiel doesn't get a chance to check out the envelope until lunchtime. In the quiet of his cubicle, he pulls out the thick stack of papers (neatly held together by a plastic ring looped through the top-left corner). He turns it over in his hand, flips through the edges with his thumb, before placing it on the table next to his lunch.

On the front page, written in simple and serious type-font, it reads:

**On the "A" Line**

By: A_Total_Becky


	8. Chapter 8

Castiel doesn't even know how to feel. 'Embarrassed' might describe it, but a part of him thinks the word too negative to really count. He reads the transcript overnight. He calls it a transcript because...what else _should_ he call it, but deep down in the most bashful, red-faced crevices of his heart, he knows what it really is.

_Fanfiction._

Fanfiction about him.

And Dean.

In the words of A_Total_Becky herself, _Oh. My. God._


	9. Chapter 9

The thing is, it's _good_. Creepy and sappy and mushy, but it's _good_. And Castiel has absolutely no idea what to do with it.

Once he finishes, in the wee hours of the morning with the sun rising and lighting up the shadows of his bedroom, it takes an hour for his mind to stop racing and actually let him fall asleep. When he wakes up, sometime mid-morning, the only thing he can think to do is read it _again_.

He skims over some bits and blushes through good parts over and over. Each time he reads the first kiss (and he's pushing on double digits here), he can actually feel the uncomfortable (but delicious) tightening of his chest and burst of butterflies in his stomach. Several times he's forced to put the papers down because, oh my god, Becky, give a guy a chance! He has to take a moment to re-compose and unfluster himself, to slow down so he can really savor it.

This story Becky's concocted, it's equal parts sweet and charming and mortifyingly lust-filled. The worst part? Castiel can't get enough.

It's not until mid-day, when he's sitting in his armchair, ensconced in fleece blankets with a cup of honeyed tea and dog-eared pages of _On the A Line_, that it hits him. He's spent Valentine's Day alone, in the _Bee Mine_ pajama's his sister sent, reading widely inappropriate fanfiction staring himself and a practical (albeit cute) stranger...written by _another_ stranger.

He can't decide if it's the weirdest or most pathetic Valentine's Day ever.


End file.
